Bellevue clinic sued in liposuction death

The family of a woman who died after liposuction at a Bellevue clinic has sued the clinic and doctor who did the procedure, a month after the state charged the doctor with unprofessional conduct.

In May of 2009, 28-year-old Aura Javellana went to the Sono Bello Body Contour Center in Bellevue for liposuction of her abdomen and upper arms. During the procedure, the surgeon, Marco Sobrino, failed to monitor how much Lidocaine he gave her, before sending her home alone in a cab after he was done, state health investigators said.

Javellana died in a hotel room the next day. An autopsy showed she died of acute poisoning from Lidocaine, an anesthetic that was injected into her body.

The lawsuit, filed last week in King County Superior Court, accuses Sono Bello and Sobrino of wrongful death, medical negligence and consumer law violations. Much of the lawsuit echoes a charging document filed in November by the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission, whose case is pending against Sobrino.

That document says Sobrino failed to physically evaluate Javallena before the surgery and signed off on the procedure minutes before it began. It says no one adequately explained the risks of liposuction or Lidocaine poisoning to her.

During the procedure, medical investigators said Sobrino administered nitrous oxide and a Lidocaine solution without monitoring Javellana, or documenting the amount administered. The doctor also failed to give the patient replacement fluids and track the amount of "material" removed, said the state.

Sobrino's medical assistant later said she couldn't remember the number of solution bags used. But she recalled the procedure took longer than usual, because Javellana was experiencing pain, and Sobrino had to re-inject solution, the charging document said.

After the three-hour procedure, Sobrino left the clinic, without ensuring his patient was in stable condition, investigators said. They said he left Javellana with no nurse, only a medical assistant, and without adequate discharge instructions. The instructions had no follow-up phone number.

After the procedure, Javellana vomited and was drowsy. She was told an adult should pick her up and stay with her for 24 hours, but not the reason why, the state said.

When no one came to pick up Javellana, Sono Bello staff put her in a cab alone, with no clear idea of where she was going, the state said. Investigators blamed the doctor.

"Respondent (Sobrino) is responsible for the actions of Sono Bello staff placing his patient - following three-and-a-half hours of laser liposuction surgery under strong drugs - in a taxicab, without an escort or a caregiver, and without clearly knowing her destination," wrote Dani Newman, a disciplinary manager for the Medical Quality Assurance Commission.

The lawsuit added a few more allegations to the charges. It said the clinic's marketing materials misled Javellana into thinking the procedure was safe, simple and "virtually painless."

Last year, KING-5 reported that Javallena had been engaged, had paid $8,000 for the procedure, and had planned to recover alone in a Bellevue hotel.

A medical director for Sono Bello - a national chain of lipo clinics - told the station that Javellana's death was an "unfortunate occurrence." KING quoted the doctor as saying the Lidocaine use was within "accepted guidelines" and that "death" had been listed as a possible side effect in Javellana's consent form.

The clinic did not return a call for comment Wednesday. But an attorney for Sobrino, Michele Atkins, said the doctor has denied the state's charges. Atkins said neither Sobrino nor the clinic had been served with the civil complaint, and that privacy laws would prevent Sobrino from commenting on the complaint's allegations.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Javellana's estate, and her surviving mother and sister.